Reiki and Animals

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Those of us who have animals in our homes know how much animals enrich our lives. Interacting with them, playing or cuddling with them, creates feelings of unconditional love and acceptance. Even being in their presence has a calming and soothing effect for many of us. We’d like to think that they receive the same feelings of belonging and contentment that they give us. Many of us will do anything for our animals’ safety, comfort and enjoyment. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to offer them the comfort and healing that Reiki can provide?

Yes, animals respond well to Reiki. The same life force energy that animates human life also exists in the animal and plant kingdoms, so the use of Reiki on animals has the same benefits for them as it does for humans. Reiki promotes a natural relaxation response which helps the body return to or stay in a parasympathetic state. This natural relaxation response allows the body to heal itself more effectively after injury or illness. Because Reiki is safe and has no side effects, it can be given to animals daily. Many Reiki practitioners offer Reiki to their animals throughout the day.

One does not need to physically touch the animal in order to send Reiki. Directing Reiki energy with the hands or eyes can be just as effective as having one’s hands on the body. Beaming Reiki allows practitioners to send Reiki to animals at a distance. Whether it is fish in an aquarium or wild animals we see in nature, such as song birds, squirrels, deer, and so forth, Reiki can be sent and received without direct physical contact. Beaming Reiki even enables one to give Reiki to animals at the zoo!

All animals are particularly sensitive to energy. There are a lot of reasons for this. Evolution has hard-wired animals to use all of their senses to avoid danger and thereby preserve life. Many species communicate through a process called entrainment. We most often see this in large flocks of birds and schools of fish that seem to move as a single unit, despite the fact that they may be comprised of dozens or even hundreds of individual members. So, even without speech, animals communicate. Scientists believe that arousal levels of animals – – heart rate, muscle twitching, breathing rates, etc., is a primary source of communication among members of the same species. This arousal level can also be called energy.

If animals use energy to communicate with each other, it only logically follows that they are aware of energy and how it works. Perhaps in their presence we are ‘entrained’ into their energy and that is why we often experience reduced stress and tension when in the company of our beloved animals.

Consciously offering Reiki healing energy is a way we can bond with the animals in our lives. Reiki can enable us to comfort a stressed or worried animal. Many shelters have volunteers whose only job is to comfort and soothe stressed rescued animals living in shelters.

Reiki can help relax animals with chronic illnesses. While relaxation is not the same as reversing or curing a condition, it seems reasonable that we would want to share as much comfort with our animals as possible to enhance their quality of life. Animals with arthritis, digestive problems and stress related behavior problems can all benefit from regular Reiki sessions. As with humans, Reiki promotes faster healing after an illness, injury or surgery.

A level one Reiki practitioner can use Reiki with animals in all of these ways: hands on, or beaming with hands or eyes to animals beyond our physical reach.

A level two Reiki practitioner who has received the sacred symbols can also beam Reiki distantly around the world to whales and porpoises in the ocean, the wild horses and burros of the American West, and endangered species across the globe. Distant beaming of Reiki using the distance symbol enables the practitioner to send Reiki wherever it is needed, regardless of geography. This is an especially wonderful gift to share with family and friends who live far away.

All that is needed for distant Reiki to work effectively is for the recipient to be willing to receive Reiki healing, and the practitioner to have the appropriate attunement (access to the symbols) and a clear positive intention for the highest good of the recipient. While animals cannot verbally consent in a way that we can understand, we can offer Reiki for their highest good, and their higher consciousness can choose to accept and receive or not as appropriate in that moment.

Animals give us so much and contribute immensely to the quality of our lives. Reiki is a way that we can easily give back to them in a way that is peaceful and healing.

Lisa Murray Machala

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